


where love blooms

by orangeshoe



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Childhood Friends, F/M, mankai company extravaganza
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:01:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28352865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orangeshoe/pseuds/orangeshoe
Summary: Twenty years passed since that dreamlike time of his life. The two of them had spent several days meeting up and playing in that giant forest, Sakyo coming out to find her after he finished with his chores, and she always seemed to know where to find him. They would watch sunsets, play games, climb trees.. he felt like he could do anything with her around.They never talked much about her magic, or about what happened when they first met. She had assured him that he wouldn't be in danger again so long as she was around, and he believed her. At the time, that had been enough.
Relationships: Furuichi Sakyou/Tachibana Izumi
Kudos: 12





	1. when we were young

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RoaringRaina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoaringRaina/gifts).



> hello!!! this is my a3! secret santa gift for @_oikawaiis on twitter! thank you so much for waiting, i'm sorry but the rest will be up soon ;w; happy holidays to you, i hope you have a great holiday season! and to everyone else.. please enjoy as well!
> 
> i will add more tags as i go along :)

Everything runs fuzzy in his brain. There's a young girl's voice - breathy and hushed - calling to him.

_ "It's okay, I'll save you!!" _

The tumbling weight of something underneath him, carrying him.. a horse? No, smaller..

" _ Shh! Stay down." _

He doesn't feel he could move even if he wanted to, but something tells him he listens. His eyelids are heavy, heavy weights and he feels like his body is no longer attached to his head. What happened to him..?

_ "It's gonna be okay." _

What was?

_ "I'll look out for you." _

Who..?

~

He awakened in a bed of leaves and rags, and a small fire has been put out not too far away. Every muscle in his body was sore, but.. he can feel it now, at least. His body aches.

With hesitation in every move, he slowly sat himself up - elbows on the floor, crunching the leaves around him with every movement and stretching when he can. He seems.. okay. How is he okay?

He took a moment to breathe. The air is fresh, crisp, and the sky has just a few clouds dotted along the way leading to the bright sun. Birds and other critters chirp and scurry on their way throughout the forest, and he thinks he can hear a creek nearby.

Oh, god. He suddenly became acutely aware of how dry his mouth is.

Parting his cracked lips, he huffs as he stands himself up to wander in search of water.

"Are you lost?" 

The young boy with soft blond hair and ragged clothes looked up toward the voice. She stood there at the edge of the pond, looking back at him as he stumbled warily toward the opening.

"..No. I live here," he replied with his best I-don't-need-anyone voice.  _ I think _ . And he didn't. He just  _ really _ needed some water.. When he finally reached the edge of the creek a few feet off from where the girl stood, he knelt down and watched her. "What are you doing?"

She only smiled. "Watching you."

"That's creepy."

"Huh?! No way!"

He really wasn't sure why she looked so shocked, but he couldn't be bothered right now. "Can you stop? I'm trying to drink in peace."

"But you could die or fall in or something. I'm protecting you!" She sprinted over to him, but it only made him more cautious. She was a weird thing, dressed in all black in this blazing sun and her big floppy hat. He almost wanted to swat at it, the way it bounced and flowed. Weird.

He settled for rolling his eyes and went to cautiously take his drink anyway.

"What's your name? I'm Izumi."

He blinked, then looked her up and down as he slowly stood back up. "..I'm.. Sakyo." He nodded.

"Sakyo.. Okay, cool. Wanna see a trick, Sakyo?"

"Not rea--"

Izumi interrupted him by whipping out her wand and twirling it over the palm of her hand. Magical wisps and sparkles flurry around until a little yellow chrysanthemum the shade of the very hair on his head blossomed. "Ta-da!!"

Sakyo's eyes widened. He had heard of magic before, seen it around as he passed by people in town, but for her to so openly and happily perform it in front of him totally unprompted.. he wasn't entirely sure why it touched him so. "..What is it?"

Her smile beamed. "A comfort spell. So long as you keep this flower, you will be able to find comfort in its presence."

He frowned, eyebrows furrowing in confusion as she took his hands and gently placed the bloom into them. "That's not possible."

"Well," Izumi shrugged, "the spell may not be perfect, but.. it definitely won't work if you don't believe in it. So whenever you feel hurt or confused, try holding on to this!"

"Won't it die?"

She looked a little sad then, cupping his hands around the flower to protect it. "Only if you let it."


	2. was it you?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It takes no less than a mile walk off from their cabin for Sakyo to become incredibly annoyed. Against all common sense within in, he’d let Azami’s attitude get to him and it’s been festering inside throughout this entire expedition. To add to his irritation, Sakoda has been yammering on and on about who knows what, and though Sakyo has tried to give very obvious hints that he’s not in the mood for conversation right now, it seems today is simply not Sakyo’s day.

Twenty years passed since that dreamlike time of his life. The two of them had spent several days meeting up and playing in that giant forest, Sakyo coming out to find her after he finished with his chores, and she always seemed to know where to find him. They would watch sunsets, play games, climb trees.. he felt like he could do anything with her around.

They never talked much about her magic, or about what happened when they first met. She had assured him that he wouldn't be in danger again so long as she was around, and he believed her. At the time, that had been enough.

Every day before they parted ways, Izumi would ask about his flower, and every day he would tell her the same thing. "It's safe." And every night as he tucked himself into bed, he would look over at the potted chrysanthemum sitting on his windowsill and let the relaxed wave of comfort wash over him while he drifted off to sleep.

But one day, she stopped finding him. He would check all of their usual play areas, the creek, the small clearing by the blueberries, the bridge that led further into the mountain.. Izumi the witch was nowhere to be found.

After that, Sakyo had to find other ways to occupy his time. He started going into town to look for more work and ended up becoming deeply involved in the city council, though his face was never attached to the town's government. He only ever asked for one thing in return alongside a steady paycheck, and that was full control of the real estate development of the forest. He maintained a cabin by that old creek with Ken Sakoda, his partner in all work matters, and began living there once his boss' son Azami Izumida ran away from home on Sakoda's encouragement.

It had become a strange existence, for certain, but he couldn't avoid the little way the tips of his fingers seemed to tingle from living in that forest again. Though days were hard and long adjusting back to this lifestyle and with Azami constantly picking a fight, Sakyo hoped that maybe it would all be worth it some day.

As he set his chrysanthemum out on the porch - now large and flourishing - he clenches his fists tightly. 

He should set his hopes low.. but he knows that inside, he really only wants one thing.

~

It was this day, with the sun high and the occasional cloud breaking up the wide blue expanse of the sky, the orange and red trees swaying in the autumn breeze on the horizon that Sakyo Furuichi thinks he would never exchange for all the money in the world.

It started like any other. He woke up early, let the dogs out to play, tended to the crops, checked inventory in the shed, swept the porch, and made sure breakfast was going all before Azami had woken up.

Sakoda stood over the fire, stirring his pot dutifully as he smiled far too wide for this early in the morning. “So, boss, what’s the plan for today? Weather’s real good! Maybe you oughta take the kid out to town!”

Sakyo hovered over Sakoda’s shoulder, narrowing his eyes when Sakoda tosses an extra spoon of sugar in. “Perhaps. I might take the boy out to gather some more firewood.”

“Huh?! More? Y’know, winter ain’t comin’ that fast..”

“It’s only a matter of time before everyone takes it all. We should be one step ahead of the others, so we don’t have to spend a dime on anything unnecessary.”

Sakoda looks unconvinced, but shrugs it off easily, like he’s done a hundred times before.

A voice comes from down the hall then, drowsy with sleep but still an unmistakable tone. “Tell me you didn’t just say what I think you said.”

Sakyo turns, arms folded, and nods curtly. “Get dressed. We’re going out into the forest today.”

“What the hell?! No way! Do you know how long I spent getting mud out of my hair last time?”

“Well, then don’t trip this time.”

“I only tripped because you’re so bad at hiking!”

“I told you last time, it’s not hiking if--”

Sakoda chirps in, jumping between the two. “Hey, hey! Howzabout I go out with boss-man today instead, huh?”

Sakyo huffs. “And leave Azami here, alone? Forget it.”

“I can handle myself for a few damn hours!”

“I’ll decide what you can and can’t handle.”

A loud, frustrated grunt fills the room and Azami jerks back toward his room, defiant. “Fuck off! See what happens.”

The door slams, then, floorboards creaking beneath the angry teenager’s feet and Sakoda flinches at how the bedsprings cry out as Azami flings himself onto the mattress.

“..Y’don’t think you coulda been a little--”

Sakyo holds up a hand and sighs. "I'm not in the mood today. Set the table and let him know breakfast is here for him. And make sure Cherry is set up on the porch.”

“Yessir!” Sakoda salutes, then goes to fetch their trusty guard dog. Usually she’s a darling little thing, loving on everyone in their woodsy hideaway, but at her heart she was a stone cold protector, and it might be what Sakyo likes best about her. She was loyal, knew her duty, and was always there when they came back.

~

It takes no less than a mile walk off from their cabin for Sakyo to become incredibly annoyed. Against all common sense within in, he’d let Azami’s attitude get to him and it’s been festering inside throughout this entire expedition. To add to his irritation, Sakoda has been yammering on and on about who knows what, and though Sakyo has tried to give very obvious hints that he’s not in the mood for conversation right now, it seems today is simply not Sakyo’s day.

And so he focuses on the trees instead, as they trudge through piles of fallen leaves and the occasional critter scurries past their feet. He takes in a deep breath of the fresh air, picks apart all of nature’s elements.. until he picks up something not-so natural.

He holds out a hand in front of Sakoda, who surprisingly _still_ keeps talking until Sakyo forces him quiet with a firm _shh_.

Sakyo scans the area slowly, trying to decipher the cause and location of the mysterious scent. It was.. slightly smoky, musty.. was that.. spice? He frowned. Who could be conjuring up such a thing out in their woods? They started to venture further, Sakoda close to Sakyo’s side while they took long, slow steps. 

“What’s the deal, boss? Somethin’ out there?”

“Not something.. someone.”

Just past a few more rogue bushes, what they find is something Sakyo had imagined, but prayed to God was not real.

But there it was, in all its defiance. A witch’s hut.

Right in his own backyard.

The thing was ugly beyond all reason, in more ways than one. It was dirty, poorly put together - held up only by the most sloppy construction job he’d ever seen. The window looked foggy as a winter morning, despite them being in the middle of autumn. 

Before he can open his mouth to curse the horrid thing out loud, someone hops out in front of the trio, legs spread wide and arms pointed up to meet at his fingertips.

“Halt! Who goes there?! This is private property!”

Sakyo scoffs and gestures for Azami to get behind him. “And who are you?”

“Huh?! I asked you first!” The silver-headed boy has an angry face on, but it looks more like a petulant pout to Sakyo. It isn’t long before another person comes bounding up behind him, and Sakyo thinks he’s hearing more voices coming from inside the hut--just how many people had been living right under his nose?

Sakyo holds his ground as the blonde one waves giddily, putting his arm around the first one like he’s not standing in some ridiculous position in front of three strangers. 

“Kazu, how come these people are here? What happened to Izumi’s spell?”

“Huh?” The blonde one - Kazu, Sakyo assumes - blinks, then turns to the (still very) confused trio like he _didn’t even notice they were there_ , and jumps. “Woah-ho! Hey! Who’re y’all?! Where’d you come from? Oh, that’s a sick outfit! You're totally dripping with style!” He points to Azami with a giant smile.

“Uh--” Azami starts, but Sakyo quickly cuts him off.

“Who are _you_ two, and what are you doing in our forest? This place isn’t supposed to be inhabited by anyone other than us.”

Kazu scratches his chin, a guilty smile on his face. Sakyo narrows his eyes and the boy seems to shrink a little behind his friend. “Yeeeah, about that.. I mean. Well.. Sumi, what do you think? Should we tell ‘em?”

“Tell us what?” Sakyo tries to demand.

The one called Sumi hums as he maintains his original position. “Hmm…”

Kazu shrugs and laughs off Sumi’s apprehension. “Bah, what’s the harm! We can just make you forget later anyway. So, this place is _actually_ \--”

Sakyo's eyes wandered off just enough then to see a black-headed twerp a quarter way up climbing a skyscraper of a tree.

“NO! Stop! Get down from there!!” Sakyo wags his finger, blowing into a rant while everyone's jaws hang open. “That’s a sacred tree, you brat, and you’re defiling it with all of your dirty hands and feet! Do you even understand how important this forest and the natural balance of it is to..."

The boy simply looks down and clicks his tongue before continuing to climb higher. Sakyo thinks he can hear himself growling. He whips his head around to the original pair, pointing at the boy in the tree. “Is that yours?”

Kazu throws his hands in the air and hollers. “Woo, yeah! Go, go, Massu! You got this!”

“Oh! What’s he got?!” Sumi finally breaks position, and Sakoda sprints after Sakyo to start barking at the boy up the tree himself.

“I dunno, but it’s gotta be good!” Kazu laughs, then jogs over to the original hut to swing the door open. “Hey, Teach, what’s Massu getting this time??”

When Kazu opens the door, Sakyo's head whips around to find the ringleader of this circus that's made a home of his woods.

What he didn't expect, though, is to see the reckless little witch of his childhood spring out of the doorway - except she's not little anymore. She's all grown up, just like him, and stirring a giant pot of something awful looking while she cradles it in her arms.

He knows it's her, too, from the way she tucks her hair behind her ear and laughs. The way she looks absolutely ridiculous doing anything, but she pretends like she doesn't. The way her big floppy hat waves in and out of her face, revealing her sparkling eyes and bright smile.

"Izumi," he breathes, like he's been waiting a hundred years to say that name again and have a response.

Like he hasn’t been muttering it in his sleep after dreaming of her, wondering if they would ever happen to meet in that forest again. 

Almost as if on cue, she turns and sees him, but the reaction isn’t what he expects. She looks scared, even, turns to the boys next to her exchanging confused yelps until she slaps a hand to her face and sighs.

Having forgotten entirely about the boy in the tree, Sakyo slowly makes his way over.

The girl waves awkwardly and laughs. “Um.. hiya! So, you might be wondering, where the heck did this place come from?! Ahah, well.. Uh…”

Sakyo tries to hide the way his breath shakes. She doesn’t remember. It.. makes sense, he thinks, and it’s fine. It’s probably better off this way. It's been years and years, and they parted ways rather anticlimactically. There’s no reason for her to remember, it’s not like their interactions were all that significant or anything. Maybe.. he'd simply been more swept up in it all than she was.

He clears his throat and holds a single hand up to silence her. “I don’t care where it came from, it just needs to be gone.”

She blinks. “What??”

“Don't make me repeat myself. This forest is protected under the Mayor’s rule for the sake of the inhabitants.”

Izumi rolls her eyes. “Yeah, well, the ‘Mayor' hasn’t shown his face around here in years. So I think he won’t mind.”

Sakyo’s upper lip twitches and he holds Sakoda back from barking at her disrespect. “I’m here to maintain the forest on behalf of the wizard. And your little.. operation here.. Well, I’m assuming there was a reason you had cast a concealing charm on it. To think, you were right here this whole time, right under my nose..”

Kazu perks up next to Izumi, jaw dropped. “What?! You can’t kick us out! That’s like, totally uncool!”

Sumi frowns as well. “Yeah! We’re not going anywhere!”

The two shift to stand in front of her, and she looks absolutely pleased with it and it sickens Sakyo. “And just what do you do here? Consume the forest’s resources and then throw garbage back out? Why do you think this land is supposed to be uninhabited?”

Izumi pokes her head out on Kazu’s side (she’s so much shorter than the lot of them, it’s cute) and puts her hands on her hips. “Excuse you! We’d never be so wasteful. I’ll have you know, I use our trash for my spells.”

Sakyo scoffs, “Like what? Turning paper into soil? You don’t need magic for that.”

“Come and see for yourself, if you’re so stubborn.”

Sakoda taps Sakyo’s shoulder. “Hey, boss?! What do we do?? Can’t we just shut ‘em down?!”

Sakyo looks to Sakoda, then glances back to where Azami is still watching the boy in the tree and even standing among some others who have emerged. Briefly, he thinks maybe this could be a good social opportunity for the boy.. And he convinces himself it’s for that reason that he waves Sakoda off. “Let’s see what they have to show us first. Then we can get rid of them.”

Izumi beams brighter than she should, then nearly skips to the door. “Come on in!”

~

What Sakyo is introduced to feels.. Almost unreal.

Inside of the hut (which is much larger on the inside than it is on the outside) there’s a storefront with shelves and shelves of pots, potted plants, flowers, gardening tools and soil dressings. There’s a room toward the back that seems almost impossibly large with glass panels on all sides and hundreds of garden plots and planters as far as his eyes can see, and off to the side he can see a pottery studio with two men currently hard at work. There’s even a quaint home inside, with a kitchen and dining room and bedrooms for what Sakyo assumes to be all of these people running around.

Izumi guides Sakyo along as she explains the different rooms, the flowers and other plants they take care of and sell. The magic that goes into every one, how each one is different and is supposed to be a charm for those who own them, how she spends every day of every month of every year training these boys who come from all sorts of places - lost, alone, or just plain in need of something to do - to create something beautiful and pleasant to help someone else in need get a little bit more out of life.

There are flowers of all different varieties and colors, and Sumi and Kazu (Misumi and Kazunari, he learns) show each other their newest creations and Sakoda gets wowed by some of the pottery designs.

“And.. what’s your profit margin like?”  
  
She waves her hand, laughing him off. “Oh, we don’t worry about things like that.”

Sakyo raises an eyebrow. “..Isn’t this a business? You can’t possibly ignore something ‘like that’ when it comes to keeping this place up and running. What happens if you run out of money, huh? Then what happens to all of these people?” He can hear his voice getting louder, more angry, and he does nothing to tame it. “It’s irresponsible and I won’t hear another word. Show me your books.”

Izumi seems like she’s about to bite back but holds her tongue and moves behind the counter, pulling out some notebooks. “I mean.. Fine, but if something goes wrong we can just use our magic, or branch out to other markets. We’ll figure something out.”

Sakyo takes a notebook from her and huffs at her childlike naivete. “You can’t bet yours and other peoples’ livelihoods on your magic or ‘figuring things out’. You have to have a plan.” He scans the papers, finger tracing across lines as his frown deepens. He pulls another, skims through it in the same way and shakes his head.

Izumi tilts her head, trying to get a better look at his face. “Um..? Well, yeah, but we’ve got a lot of brains to pick! So..”

“You’re in the red,” Sakyo announces, slamming the book shut. “Do they know?”

It seems to freeze her. “Yeah. Well, kinda. They know it’s rough right now. We’re all working other jobs too, to pitch in.”

Looking at her face, she doesn’t seem afraid, but it does ring something familiar inside of Sakyo that lets him take a deep breath and count to ten. She looks like she’s a bit tired, but trying to put on a positive look for everyone, and it reeks so strongly of the Izumi he knew as a boy that it sends a chill down his spine. He lifts the book gently and hands it back to her. 

“Increase your revenue five percent by this time next week, and you can stay in business. And keep that ridiculous barrier down, you’re not fooling anyone anymore. If anyone gives me trouble, you can find me south of the creek. But only come if it’s an emergency.” He narrows his eyes at a group of boys dogpiling each other in the living room and groans internally. “I mean it.”

What happens next is what gives him hope.

Izumi smirks at him, pointing a finger right in his face. “I’ll do you five better! Ten percent, _and_ I won’t even need to come to you for help. Even if there is an emergency, which there won’t be!”

Sakyo snorts, adjusting his glasses as he beckons Sakoda to fetch Azami. “We’ll see about that.”

~

Sakyo can hear Azami’s shoes crunching the leaves beneath his feet as he walks on, Sakoda chirping about some purple and black ornament he’d seen back in the hut (could it even be called that anymore?) while Azami hummed to show he was somewhat listening.

When they finally reach their door back home - their original mission entirely forgotten - Sakyo undoes his boots and he can feel Azami’s shadow hovering over him.

“Can I help you with something?” 

Azami shakes his head and tosses his shoes into their little cubby. “Not really. You probably won’t tell me anyway.”

Sakyo frowns. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Sakoda looks between the two of them, ready and alert to jump in if the conversation turned uncivil. Sakyo only waves him off though and asks him to start the fire. 

“I saw you making googly eyes at that witch. Are you in love at first sight or some crap? That’s so lame.”

Sakyo looks at the cubby and points. “Fix your shoes.”

“Like hell I will! Quit avoiding the damn question!” Azami shouts even when Sakyo turns away to leave.

“It’s none of your business. Go get washed up and get ready for dinner.”

Sakyo simply keeps on, dusting his hands off before he leans on the doorway with his arms folded across his chest.

Azami barks something defiant before storming off to his room and Sakyo feels the heavy sigh leave his chest.

His thoughts are disturbed only by Sakyo’s big eyes sitting in front of him. 

“Uh.. boss? There’s no firewood!”


End file.
